Beg your pardon

When President Biden pardoned two large turkeys on the South Lawn of the White House on Monday, it was a reminder that we never thought of the presidential power to pardon in as ominous a light as we did under the former guy – who regularly dangled presidential pardons to bail out his most despicable supporters.

As the president pardoned Chocolate and Chip – he poked fun at the rabid opposition of the GOP and the handful of Republican contenders who still have yet to formally concede their races, promising the ballots had been counted and there was no “fowl play.”

He went on to say that the only “red wave” hyped up by Republicans and the media was going to happen in the dining room if his dog, Commander, knocked over the cranberry sauce. It was a folksy speech where he carried out one of the White House’s more unusual traditions.

It’s also a reminder that things could have been very different leading up to where we are now, had we not turned out in large numbers to vote for the party that still believes in democracy – particularly as we watch the former guy threaten us with a third presidential bid and the GOP squabble over leadership while trying to make excuses for why they didn’t do better. As we approach Thanksgiving 2022 with a record number of governorships and statehouses under Democratic control and a Democratically controlled Senate, we have a great deal to be thankful for.